


Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

by Scarletphoenix8



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, Christmas fic, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, OT12 - Freeform, it's happier than it sounds I promise, mentions of nudity, taoris-centric, the angst is only a teeny bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 01:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9049156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarletphoenix8/pseuds/Scarletphoenix8
Summary: A short Taoris-centric Christmas fic I wrote 2 years ago… There’s plenty of Sulay, Kaisoo, Chanbaek, Xiuchen and Hunhan still! This is the first-ever fic I’ve written :) Merry Christmas everyone! (Title from Darlene Love's classic song)





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words used in this prologue:  
> 1\. 哥 is Chinese for elder brother  
> 2\. 队长 is Chinese for leader and refers to Kris, and just leader refers to Suho
> 
> Enjoy~!

Tao sat on the sofa in the living room of their dormitory beside his best friend and hyung. This was not the time for one of their usual lighthearted chats, however. “哥, am I gonna get my heart broken?” Kris chuckled, and despite not understanding completely, he immediately replied, “Not with me around. I'll never let anyone do that to you. Never.” Tao leaned into his best friend. “我相信你。” (I trust you.)

-6 months later-

"Tao..." Kris whispers, stroking his lover's hair, as said lover attempts to burrow even more deeply into his embrace. "You don't need to worry. I'll never leave you. Do you trust me?" Tao stops trying to shrink as small as some of his shorter hyungs and looks up at him with unshed tears sparkly in his eyes. “哥，我永远相信你。” (I'll trust you forever.)

-A long time later-

Kris packed his bags and left, never looking back. It was only when they got back from the dance studio did the rest of EXO realise that their 队长 was never going to come back for one last time.

That night, a lonely figure stood on a balcony singing an English song taught by someone who broke his heart and a promise.

“I remember years ago, someone told me I should take caution when it comes to love, I did.” Tears streamed down the face, smudging eyeliner carefully applied by a makeup artist. “Tell them all I know now, shout it from the rooftops, write in on the skyline, all we had is gone now.” Choking on sobs, Tao continues to spill his heart out. “Tell them I was happy, and my heart is broken, all my scars are open, tell them what I hoped, would, be impossible...” He sinks to the ground, arms wrapped around himself as he whispers one last time, “Impossible.”

Suho walks over, Luhan and Lay following in his wake. They wrap the sobbing Chinese maknae in their embrace, the other 7 members standing at the sliding door. “艺兴哥，他怎么可以这样就离开我们？” (Yixing hyung, how could he just leave us alone like that?) Tao asked, slipping into his native language.

“我们也不知道。但是，子韬，你还有我们啊。你还有我，还有鹿晗哥。” (We don't know either, but, Zitao, you still have us. You still have me, and Luhan hyung.) Lay replies hopelessly, arms tightening around the sobbing boy.

“我知道，可是，难道他能这么容易地抛弃了我们吗？他怎么能这么狠心地离开了我们？” (I know, but surely he couldn't have left us so easily? How could he abandon us so cruelly?) Luhan and Lay share a glance, knowing that "us" meant "me".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the rest isn't as sad as this! The mood will improve immensely by the next chapter :)


	2. Hello

“They say that time's supposed to heal ya, but I ain't done much healing.” The strains of English filter through the polluted air. “Hello, can you hear me? I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be,” sings a man who is actually in China, not California. “Hello from the other side, I must've called a thousand times, to tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done.” What Kris doesn't know is that Tao has stopped answering phone calls from numbers he doesn't know overseas because the last time it happened, it was a fan who had accidentally keyed in the wrong number. She had meant to call her half-brother, and upon hearing her idol's voice, rambled on and on, stumbling upon the name Kris once in a while. Tao stood frozen, even when she'd hung up when he didn't respond, only to have D.O. find him, eyes glazed over with tears. “It's no secret that the both of us are running out of time,” and Kris has to stop and catch his breath as he remembers Tao, and his power over time. How ironic that they would run out of time, when his other half controls it. “But it don't matter, clearly it doesn't tear you apart anymore.” Kris mistakes Tao's fear of repeated heartbreak for indifference, when in reality the panda still wonders sadly why his dragon broke his promise.

One might say at that Kris was more pitiful, since Tao had had his hyungs and two maknaes to comfort him.

The younger of those maknaes, however, was now struggling to cope with the loss of his deer (pun intended) boyfriend who had returned to China as well. When Tao left, unable to stand being constantly reminded of Dragon 队长, the rest of EXO felt the aftereffects. They hadn't had the chance to heal either.

Suho sat on his bed, staring sadly at his phone screen. Lay (who Chanyeol still insists is secretly a unicorn because of how nice he is) crawled behind his boyfriend and backhugged him, kissing his right temple. Suho throws his phone on the bed, which lands face up. Lay sighs and hugs the leader tighter, seeing 12 smiling faces on the screen. Suho leans back into his embrace. In the next room, Kai and D.O. cuddle with Sehun, who was feeling lonely and convinced his hyungs to join him using aegyo. Chen and Xiumin fall asleep talking on the sofa. A week ago it would have been flirting words, or sweet nothings, but now it was a tale of emptiness. Baekhyun had dragged Chanyeol binge shopping, only to come across a Gucci bag - the newest one, in fact - and suddenly remembered his shopping buddy Tao and the pain of separation.

It reached the point where their manager would end up having to search for Suho in the tangle of bodies and limbs (for which Chanyeol is often blamed, since his limbs can wrap around a little more than Baekhyun) in the living room of the dormitory, or any one of the bedrooms, just so that he can wake EXO up in the mornings. No one, including him, had the heart to tell them to sleep in their own rooms and in their own beds. Suho is used to it, and rouses EXO in a particular manner, gentle and motherly. This morning, however, EXO seemed a little... different. Like there was an air of newfound... confidence?

When EXO woke up, D.O. hopped off to cook, as usual. Except that... he HOPPED. He didn't drag himself off, for the first time in ages. Then when Kai tried to tease him into giving him extra food, he got a sharp slap, rather than relent. He even shot Kai a glare when Kai called him “satan spawn, because you're being mean to your one true love”, replying with “Jongin shut up if you want breakfast and any skinship for the next 24 hours”, effectively shutting him up.

At the other end of the dorm, Baekhyun reemerged from his bedroom, eyeliner on point, after weeks of uneven, unsymmetrical swipes. By occasionally tiptoeing behind Chanyeol to pull his ears and randomly shouting (more like screaming, really) “Yoda!” or “Elf!” as well as other various phrases related to his boyfriend's ears at the top of his voice, he effectively startled any half-asleep members wide awake. Which then resulted in Chanyeol covering his ears to protect them from his sass-wielding (and hence invincible) boyfriend, which THEN lead to him hearing absolutely NOTHING that Suho later said over breakfast (which was probably quite important).

Lay, on the other hand, was a whole other story. Once awake, he dragged a shell-shocked Suho into his room without closing the door. The rest of the members tried to eat breakfast but decided to pass on it (except for Kai who refused to miss a single bit of his boyfriend's cooking) in favour of watching the leader and the unicorn make out at “bloody 6 in the morning”, as Sehun kindly (sarcastically) pointed out. However, longing sighs were heard soon after, no doubt coming from the same maknae.

Before they knew it, practice was over and they were taking a short break. All of a sudden Xiumin asked, “Did anyone suddenly feel this need to, say, get up and fix things?” 8 other heads nodded vigorously.

Chen raised his hand excitedly. “Let's kidnap Lu hyung and Yifan hyung and Tao from China and then lock Tao and Kris hyung in a room so they'll get together again and everything will be back to normal and everyone will be happy!” he beamed broadly, only to be scolded by Suho.

“Jongdae, don't even talk about kidnapping people from ANOTHER FREAKING COUNTRY when you can't even get Minseok hyung to DATE you.” Upon which the two blushed, looked at each other at the same time, and looked down again, blushing.

“IN DENIAL, ARE WE?” yelled Chanyeol. Upon which D.O. sighed and decided to do damage control, which consisted of him grabbing Chanyeol and putting him in a headlock.

“Baekkieeee!! Save me from Satansoo!” Baekhyun tilted his head cutely, considering whether or not to help his boyfriend. He sighed and walked over, and next thing D.O. knew, Baekhyun was making puppy eyes at him. He loosened his grip, only to have Suho say “No, Kyungsoo, he deserves to be kept there a little longer.” But Lay felt bad about it and tugged at Suho's sleeve. Soon the SuLay couple were engaged in a heated discussion (well, heated on Suho's part, but cool and collected on Lay's part). Kai cheered his boyfriend on, only to be viciously pinched by Baekhyun. In the meantime, Xiumin decided that it was his duty to protect Sehun from the rest of his hyungs, and dragged Chen into a cuddlefest with the maknae “for Sehunnie's protection”, although he just wanted skinship with Chen, who accepted it gladly.

After they finally calmed down, EXO was back to normal.


	3. All I Want for Christmas is You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not Christmas without Mariah Carey!

“I don't know what to get Jongin for Christmas,” groaned D.O., stretching out on his bed. “Baekhyun hyung told me to strip naked, wrap myself up and lie on Jongin's bed,” he complained to Xiumin, who was sitting at the foot of his bed. The eldest laughed.

“Please,” Xiumin snorted. “Jongin would actually like it, that horny bastard.”

“Minseok hyung! You _wouldn’t_.” gasped D.O., pressing a hand to his heart. Xiumin shrugged.

“He got that from me, actually.”

D.O. fell off his bed from shock.

“Ahh...” Xiumin scrambled to correct himself. “I asked Jongdae what he wanted for Christmas in front of Baekhyun and the idiot actually suggested that I do that.”

D.O. crawled back on his bed, rolling his eyes. “Seriously, hyung? Just marry him already.”

“Marry Baekhyun?! Chanyeol would _murder_ me.”

D.O. facepalmed and decided to change the subject instead. “What're you getting Joonmyeon hyung then?”

“Honestly? I'd want to get him us.” Xiumin's statement was met with huge owl eyes filled with utter confusion. “Oh sorry, I mean like, I'd want to get Luhan and Tao and Yifan back and have a reunion so we'd have our twelve members again. Joonmyeon would like that best, wouldn't he?”

D.O. sighed wistfully. “Wouldn't we all?”

“Nah, you'd prefer Jongin naked on your bed,” grinned Xiumin cheekily, poking his dongsaeng's side.

“And _you’d_ want Jongdae-hyung naked in _your_ bed,” retorted D.O., rendering Xiumin speechless and blushing.

-In the living room-

Lay hummed ‘Dear Santa’ under his breath. He really admired TaeTiSeo sunbaenim. He finished it with a smile, just as Suho walked into the living room. “Yixing?”

“Joonmyeonnie~” Lay stopped twirling aimlessly and skipped towards his boyfriend. Then he stopped a few feet away from him, raking his eyes up and down the leader's figure. Suho raised an eyebrow.

“Do I have something on my face? Did I spill something on my shirt? ZHANG YIXING WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME LIKE THAT?!” Suho had every reason to freak out, since Lay had on a very serious expression. Then Lay's face broke into the cheesiest grin.

“I don't want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need~” he sang, prancing around Suho, who visibly relaxed and started laughing. “Don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree, I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know, make my wish come trueeeee~” he stopped and looked expectedly at his boyfriend, who smiled lovingly.

“Baby all I want for Christmas is you~” sang Suho. They laughed, clinging to one another, having the cutest time, when they were interrupted by a snort.

“See, Lu hyung, this is what I have to suffer through every day! Joonmyeon hyung and Yixing hyung are gonna give us diabetes,” said Sehun, gagging as he pointed his tablet screen toward the guilty couple. Suho and Lay looked guiltily towards the laughing deer on the tablet screen, arms around each other's waists.

“Oh, Sehunnie, you're just jealous,” laughed Luhan, all the way back in China. “Now turn the screen back to yourself, babe, I wanna see that handsome face of yours, as entertaining as they are.” Now it was Sehun's turn to flush red as Lay giggled and Suho smiled endearingly.

Sehun all but sprinted back to his room and flung himself onto his bed. “Lulu, I'm so lonelyyyy~” At which his boyfriend laughed again.

“Don't be so impatient, Sehunnie, I'll be seeing you for Christmas, won't I?” the maknae sat up straight in shock.

“WHAT?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SuLayyy *heart melts* I know I wrote it but I can't help it :P


	4. E is even more than anyone that I endure (or: Suho suffers)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title inspired by Nat King Cole's L-O-V-E

“EXO, gather!” At the sound of the leader's voice, 8 boys/men (it was debatable) rushed over, only to see two solemn faces. One being their leader, another being their manager.

“Make A Wish foundation has contacted us. For those of you who don't know, they specialise in making wishes come true, for youths and children who are dying due to cancer etc. Now, there was this wish made by a young American-Korean woman by the name of Kim Jo-Anne, to meet EXO. However, she specifically said "all twelve of them". We have spoken to the other three and their managers and it has been agreed that you will get together. She wished to have a Christmas party with all of you, so you will meet on Christmas Eve, have a small reunion, and refamiliarise. This is to facilitate things on Christmas Day, on which you will spend the morning and afternoon with Ms Kim.”

The manager went on to talk about a few more things before dismissing them. On the van ride back, EXO were silent. They silently rode up the elevator and gathered in the living room of their dormitory.

Suho sighed. “I saw them.”

That was all it took for the maknae to collapse. Luckily, Kai and Chanyeol, who were next to him, caught him, and let him sit down gently. “Hyung...” he started.

Suho knelt next to him, and cradled his face as a mother would her child's. “Luhan passed this to me, and he said to tell you to read it immediately,” he said, pushing a crumpled, folded piece of paper into Sehun's trembling hands. The maknae slowly unfolded the piece of hotel stationery, and read aloud.

_“Dearest Sehun, as well as the rest of you nosy people who are either reading this or listening to Sehun read this, I hope you are doing well. I have just left Taozi, and later I will be with Yifan. Trying to get them back together is impossible, at least by myself. I need the power of EXO to do it. It is clear they miss one another, but Yifan can't forgive himself, and neither can Tao. So I'm hoping you all could come up with a good idea! Minseok hyung, don't let Jongdae come up with any stupid ideas please. We have time to come together and catch up, but we need to get Taoris back together first!! Tao and Yifan send their wishes and concern as well, and apologies for the loss of contact, and any pain caused. Of course, we all send love as well. Joonmyeon, this is in your hands! And Yixing's and Kyungsoo's and Minseok's, but I can't trust the rest cos they're still way too crazy and/or childish ;) (that includes you, Chanyeol!) Sehun, I love you, miss you, and will see you soon, together with the others.”_

Sehun finished with tears in his eyes.

“Oh, Luhan hyung, ever the matchmaker,” laughed Kai, remembering how Luhan had forcefully hinted Sehun to confess to him, before putting everyone in their couples just in time for his departure, except Xiumin and Chen because of how much in denial they were. “I'll be back,” he'd promised.

Meanwhile Chanyeol was pouting. “Childish?! Me?! I'm practically a man.” To which everyone snorted.

“Please, Chanyeol, you're a man-child, or a child that looks like a man,” sneered Chen.

Then Baekhyun, being the overprotective boyfriend that he was, leaped at Chen and tried to bitch slap him. Chen flinched when he heard the snap of skin on skin, only to realise that he didn't feel any pain. “Minseok hyung! I'm so sorry!” wailed Baekhyun, and fell to his knees. Xiumin was in no position to reply, since Baekhyun's bitch slap packed more power than one would have thought from the skinny lad.

Suho sighed helplessly. “Guys, sit in a circle, please. NOW.” Hearing Suho use his ‘leader voice’ the other 8 members followed his instructions. Xiumin had to be pulled down into Chen's lap, while said person caressed the red mark on his cheek. Sehun was still looking rather lost, Chanyeol was still pouting, and Baekhyun still felt and looked horribly guilty, but Suho ignored all these in favour of trying to carry out Luhan's instructions. “We have the whole of tomorrow, from 9am to Christmas morning to ourselves.”

Two hours later, EXO had a plan that they knew by heart, and were about to rehearse it when D.O. realised something.

“Ohnoguystheyrecomingtomorrowwehaventgotthemchristmaspresentswehavetodoitnoworelsewewonthavetimeto.”

Somehow the others all understood, and they rushed out to buy the three Chinese men Christmas presents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad ending sorry just really wanted to write the next part!


	5. Sing For You

-24th December-

 

EXO braced themselves for the meeting. Sehun in particular was propped up between Kai and Chanyeol again (mainly because they were the the only ones tall enough to support him). Then the door swung open to admit their managers and the sorely missed three. A stunning silence followed. Unable to stand it any longer, the managers left with muttered reminders. Once the door slammed, noise exploded. Predictably enough, Sehun flung himself at Luhan, so anyone who wanted to greet Luhan had to hug both him and Sehun, but all in all, it was a mess.

When everyone had settled down enough, Suho forged forward with his plan. “Let's play truth or dare!” Of course the other 8 members knew their instructions. Kris, Tao and Luhan watched, bemused, as the others sat in prearranged places and Chanyeol produced a bottle from nowhere to spin. It was almost like the old days, except that there was a slight difference in the sitting arrangement.

_Clockwise; Suho, Lay, Luhan, Sehun, Kai with D.O. in his lap, Xiumin, Baekhyun in Chanyeol's lap, Tao, Chen, Kris._

“Yifan, why don't you do the honors?” asked Suho, gesturing politely to the bottle in the centre of the circle. With a nod, Kris spun the bottle, only to have it stop pointing at him. Amidst bouts of laughter, Kris smiled good-naturedly, saying “Dare.”

“Ooooh,” said Chanyeol, rubbing his palms together as best as he could with Baekhyun in his lap. “Get drunk!”

“PARK CHANYEOL! None of this, we still have to decorate the dorm later and none of you are getting out of it by getting inebriated.” Suho's scolding humbled Chanyeol, who let out a whimper. “Besides, alcohol is always a no-no. It's not like we have any anyways,” he added, after a pause. Then Baekhyun leaned up to whisper in the giant's ear. Ten pairs of eyes watched Chanyeol turn _very_ red, then grow a smirk on his face.

“Kiss Joonmyeon hyung.”

Suho's mouth fell open. This was so not in his plan. Chanyeol mouthed a “sorry” in his direction, although no one could be sure if it was for him or for Lay, who had a foreign expression on his face. Suho sighed, resigned to his fate. “Okay.”

Kris leaned over and grabbed Suho's neck...and kissed the top of his head. “Aww,” complained Chen.

Kris grinned wickedly. “No one specified where I had to kiss him.” Lay on the other hand, maintained the odd facial expression, only with a slightly deeper frown.

Then Luhan exploded into laughter. “Oh my god Yixing you're jealous! I never thought I'd see this day,” he giggled, wiping away tears of laughter. The truth dawned upon the rest of the members as well, as everyone started laughing uncontrollably, Chanyeol even rolling on the floor. (He had to dump Baekhyun on the floor to do so, and said boyfriend wasn't too happy about it.)

Once Kris recovered, he spun the bottle, which landed on Tao. He hesitated, then asked timidly, “Truth or dare, Tao-ah?” Tao flinched slightly before answering with a whispered “Truth.”

D.O.'s hand shot straight up. “Who did you miss the most?”

Everyone froze. Tao hesitantly answered. “亦凡哥,” he whispered, causing said dragon to turn bright red. Tao quickly reached out and flicked the bottle, which landed on Chen. He then grinned wickedly, looking like a Cheshire cat. “Jongdae hyung?”

Chen smirked. “Dare, like a real man would.” After seeing the grin on Tao's face spread wider, however, he found himself regretting his decision.

“Confess to one person in this circle, and whoever you pick can choose to acknowledge or dump you. If you're dumped, you have to go to someone else.” Tao said happily. Chen groaned. He got up, eyes searching for someone.

“Joonmyeon hyung?” he asked, stepping towards said unicorn. Lay immediately grabbed Suho and kissed him properly on the lips. While Suho was happy that he got an actual kiss from his actual boyfriend, his face flushed red with embarrassment. And also because he thought a possessive Lay was cute. Chen's head hung comically low. Suho chuckled.

“Yixing-ah, how could you dump him before he even confessed?” he asked, turning to Lay. All he got in reply was another press of lips to his own.

Chen yelped and covered his eyes. “This is like watching our parents kiss! Nope!” His eyes settled on Sehun, but the maknae was immediately grabbed by his boyfriend, who sent a glare to Chen which practically screamed “hands off my boyfriend, bitch” and so Chen resignedly walked to Xiumin. He kinda got the idea that this was what Tao had wanted. “Minseok hyung?” he asked timidly. Xiumin raised his eyebrows and calmly gestured a “go on” to him. However, everyone could see his slight trembling and the tips of his ears turn red. The eldest was nervous about receiving a confession from his crush, even if it were for a dare. Chen visibly straightened and steeled himself. “Hyung... You're... Handsome and cute and you can pull both off really well even though they're at opposite ends of the spectrum. You always take such good care of us, maybe cos you have more experience cos you're older, but...” and Chen flushed before he forged ahead. “Minnie-hyung, I'm just gonna take this chance, and say that I really honestly like you. I took this dare like a man so I'm going to confess like a man, and hyung, seeing you happy makes me happy, and seeing you down makes me want to carry you up and hug you until all your troubles are gone. You make me want to sing the cheesiest love songs in the world, and I'd sing anything you want, even if I have to learn another language. So even though this is a dare, I just want you to know that I'd like to be your boyfriend, to be yours to cherish, so you can be cherished as well.” Chen got down on bent knee in front of his favourite hyung, head hanging down, unable to look Xiumin in the face. He stayed like that, flaming red to the tips of his ears, for all of ten seconds before Luhan couldn't take it anymore.

“Kim Minseok you have to respond and you'd better cos that's the rules of the game you have to follow the dare through and we all know you're whipped for him anyways so FREAKING CONFESS AND KISS HIM ALREADY.” The eldest slowly turned redder than he already was, which should have been impossible.

To everyone's surprise (well not really because they'd all suffered under the forceful ways of matchmaker Luhan before), Xiumin stretched forward, tipped Chen's chin up and pressed a chaste kiss to the other's lips. “Jongdae-ah, be my boyfriend?” All Chen could do was nod dumbly. Of course Luhan had to celebrate finally getting the ‘in denial’ couple together, which delayed the game even more. When Suho finally got Luhan to calm down, Chen spun the bottle.

“Jonginnie~”

Said dancer groaned. “Truth. Or dare. Anything.”

“Double dare with Kyungsoo hyung then,” said Sehun, shrugging. “Re-enact Yixing hyung attacking Joonmyeon hyung that morning for Luhannie hyung, Yifan hyung and Tao hyung to watch.”

The SuLay couple blushed red and the leader buried his face in his lover's shoulder. “Can I narrate! Please!” yelled Chanyeol, hand sticking straight up in the air.

“I don't see why not,” said Kris, seeing how Suho was too embarrassed to look up from Lay's shoulder, let alone answer.

“I'll be Joonmyeon hyung,” said D.O., getting up from his sitting position. “Jongin can be Yixing hyung.”

Kai curled up on the floor next to D.O.'s feet, pretending to be asleep. “Yixing hyung is sleeping, and Joonmyeon hyung, who was woken up by the managers, has woken everyone else up already,” Chanyeol narrated. “He wakes Yixing hyung last because one, the privileges of having the leader as your boyfriend include sleeping in, two, everyone knows how hard it is to wake him up.” Chanyeol continued despite glares from the leader. D.O. bent over and shook Jongin gently, then harder, more insistently as he didn't respond. “Cue Joonmyeon hyung's daily struggle of waking Yixing hyung.” Jongin sat up and looked around blearily, making everyone laugh because that was EXACTLY how Lay looked like in the morning. “Then Yixing hyung spots Joonmyeon hyung...” Kai pretended to lock on D.O., who pretended to not realise it, and then jumped him, dragging him to their room. “Come on, guys!” Chanyeol yelled. The entire group jogged after Kai and D.O.. “After being kidnapped by Yixing hyung, Joonmyeon hyung was flung onto their bed and attacked by a ferocious unicorn.” At this point Kai and D.O. started sucking face, while Suho protested that one, Lay "hadn't been ferocious AT ALL", and two, "Yixing says all unicorns are nice and not at all ferocious".

Meanwhile the other three Chinese men were busy busting their sides from laughter. While Luhan hung onto Sehun for support, Kris and Tao collapsed against each other. Neither of them noticed exactly what they were doing until they had calmed down and Kris' chuckles and Tao's giggles had subsided. Upon which they jumped apart as if someone had burnt them with an iron. Try as they might, they couldn't ignore the sad looks from the others. Luhan looked close to tears, as did Suho and D.O.. To avoid any actual shedding of tears, Kai quickly spun the bottle and declared, "It landed about where Tao was sitting."

Said panda cuffed his head. “Yah! That's Tao-HYUNG for you, you insolent brat! Anyways, how sure are you that it was me?” Kai just shrugged in response. “I'll take a dare, since I did truth last.”

Once again, D.O. (in his Satansoo aspect) shot his hand straight in the air like an overenthusiastic student, despite his poker face. “Sing a song to Yifan-hyung.”

Tao tilted his head, thinking hard, and all that ran through the 队长's head was how cute he looked, besides the immense anticipation of the song to come. Then Tao smiled sadly, and began to sing.

“我弹着吉他的节拍，染上寂寞的纯白。” Recognition flashed on the nine current members' faces, but it took Luhan a whole line later to realise what it was.

“今天要把未完的故事说完。” It was only halfway through the first verse that Kris recognised the song.

“心事堆积成了雪, 哼着歌对你思念。 你能否听见 I'll sing for you.” He gave a start, for he was used to hearing the words in Chanyeol's Korean accent.

“我终于鼓起勇气，坦白这一秘密，就算你不在意 I'll sing for you.”

Everyone stared intensely at EXO-M's ex-maknae, whose eyes sparkled slightly in the light.

“The way you cry, the way you smile.” Tao sang honestly, as though he meant every word. “请別笑我太无趣，我的世界只有你。” And he did, every word of it.

“你会有天明白我的爱。”Tao smiled sadly, looking into the distance as if remembering something as his voice grew gentle.

“可能在今夜后, 我又变成懦弱的我。 所以今天一定要对你说出口, 请用心去聆听,” and then Tao looked Kris dead in the eye as he sang the last line. “只想你聆听 I’ll sing for you.”

The dormitory filled with silence. Kris's eyes let one tear fall, a tear he hadn't noticed was welling up in his eye. That set Tao off, who collapsed into his 队长's arms. Kris gingerly embraced his old lover, burying his face into his hair and whispering. “黄子韬，你没事。哥真的对不起你，你能够原谅我吗？” (Huang Zi Tao, you'll be alright. I'm so sorry, could you forgive me?) Tao nodded vigorously through his tears. Once he finished snuffling, he looked up, unshed tears making his eyes sparkle. Their lips met halfway, and they kissed sweetly, the kiss of lovers with all the time in the galaxy.

Meanwhile, the ‘girls’ or ‘women’ of the group (despite Luhan's violent protests that he is, indeed, a MAN) grew emotional at the sight. Luhan sobbed into Sehun's shirt, while Baekhyun chose to delicately wipe away his tears with the back of his hand. D.O. smiled, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. Suho full-out wept into his hands as Lay drew him into his lap and his embrace, for his 'son' finally got together with his fellow leader. The delicate joy and preciousness of the moment kept the usually loud group quiet.

After a few more rounds which included Chanyeol eating Sehun's cooking (which was still far from edible), Lay dancing a little too sexily for Suho to handle (who turned bright red and tried to stop him because "Sehunnie and Taozi and Jonginnie are too young for this, Yixing!" although everyone knew it was actually because he himself was enjoying it WAY too much), and D.O. drinking an evil concoction made from the contents of their refrigerator (and now Kai refused to leave his side for fear he fall ill due to its vicousness), the game turned into them lazing around, until Suho simply decided that it was easier if everyone went to sleep with their significant other. Throughout the whole thing, however, Kris' hand was wrapped around Tao's hipbone, his arm around Tao's waist. Tao clung to Kris, fearing that if he let go, he would leave. Kris noticed, and just as they lay on Suho's bed (the leader was sleeping with his unicorn), ready to go to dreamland, Kris held Tao in a firm embrace. “I'll never leave you again. Ever.” Tao nuzzled the crook of his dragon's neck, sighing and revelling in the familiar scent, a mix of his soap, aftershave and cologne.

“我知道。”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What Tao said at the end can be translated into, quite simply, "I know."


	6. Epilogue

-3 years later-

“Come in.” The EXO-Ls go crazy.

“Modeun geol geolgo neol deurikin na, ijen dorikil sudo eopsda,” Baekhyun's eyes are flinty at best as his stare freezes the EXO-Ls hearts over.

“Igeon bunmyeong wiheomhan jungdok, so bad, no one can stop her." D.O. sings, revelling in the familiar notes. As they sing, some of the older EXO-Ls can't help but notice the oddness of the formation, as if it were missing people.

 

X

 

The EXO-Ls faces wear identical looks of confusion when Lay steps out after the second chorus. “所有人都在问着我，”

Then a sorely-missed voice sings “怎么我变了很多。” The EXO-Ls scream upon seeing Luhan.

“从内心深处感染你一切，你就是唯一的世界。” Lay and Chen sing with bright smiles on their faces.

“再也无法倒退你填满的空间。” Luhan shares a wink with them.

“在这一瞬间, you're in my heart,” As Chen sings a figure rises from below stage, back facing the audience.

“E.X.O.” Xiumin chants fiercely, but all of the EXO-Ls can hear the anticipation in his voice.

A dragon roars, “我想要把你灌满我的喉。” and the EXO-Ls' screams go higher than ever. “享受着这种刺激那么痛快 I can’t stop.”

“Hey doctor, 这种感觉就挺好的 huh.” As Xiumin raps, another figure rises from below stage. “抗拒不了你给的引力让我慢慢被你融化,” The stadium goes silent as the EXO-Ls hold their breath in anticipation.

“宁愿长睡不醒如果这种感觉不存在。” As Tao turns around, the EXO-Ls screams reach a feverish pitch. “中你甜蜜的毒，变成我活下去的期待。”

Then the reins are handed back to Suho. “Someone call the doctor.”

“Someone call the doctor nen geunyeoga piryohae.” The familiar synchronity leaves the EXO-Ls breathless. “Too much, neoya, your love, igeon overdose.” The powerful ending leaves 12 heaving chests and 12 satisfied smiles huddled together in a single embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! Hope you enjoyed this, tell me your favourite part :)


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